WE* against the right

The clearly noticeable shift to the right has been really getting me down for several months. In the winter of 2023/2024, it was already clear how the “Sunday question” in Austria would usually turn out and how a national election in the fall of 2024 would turn out. This shift to the right seemed so intense and at the same time so elusive that a mixture of frustration and helplessness led to me resigning myself. Until I heard a lecture by Dr. Krini Kafiris on April 16 about how civil society in Greece had defeated the neo-fascist “Golden Dawn”. The party had been banned and the right-wing radical activities were facing intense headwinds everywhere. But it was not just an inspiring lecture. On the way home, some people discussed it and noticed that we all felt exactly the same: all 3 or 4 people waiting for the tram were resigned (what can you do about the shift to the right?) and felt alone (I don’t know anyone else who is doing anything about it). A second later it was clear: If we join forces, we are no longer alone, but we can start doing something. A lack of ideas was really not our problem!

What a great feeling! Gone was the hopelessness - simply because we were starting to take our first steps - and the loneliness and frustration of just standing by and doing nothing. We then agreed to meet up again a week later and start by designing posters against the right. Then everything else followed!

Quite simply, if we think about what we want to stand up for, we can have great discussions and arguments. Many things would unite us: Solidarity, human rights, gender equality, anti-racism, and so on... Tax justice, environmental protection, reducing working hours - where does the disagreement start, where do we have different priorities? Where do we still agree on goals, but want to achieve them in different ways?

But what unites us is that we want to take a firm and clear stand against the shift to the right.
We no longer want to stand by and watch as exclusion, polarisation, hate (messages) and discrimination increase. And we clearly see all of this coming and being cemented if the FPÖ leads Austria's next federal government. That is why we are taking a stand with all our might.
Right-wing extremism and fascism are not opinions, they are crimes.

We are not a participatory/mass organisation. We are simply a loose group of people who are concerned about the shift to the right. We have lots of ideas and we invite everyone who is also concerned to become active themselves. Yes, you can support us and yes, sometimes there are opportunities to get involved (training, poster campaigns, etc.), but we firmly believe that YOU can find 2 or 3 other people in your neighbourhood who also want to become active against the right. Get together, brainstorm some first little steps to thorough actions and look out for support if you need it. You can also find some inspirations here..